Jerk and safety line retaining means for tongs



March 3, 1959 c. A. LUNDEEN JERK AND SAFETY LINE RETAINING MEANS FOR TONGS Filed Sept. 19, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 m f w U .l 4 w 5, M C

INVENTOR.

March 3, 1959 c. A. LUNDEEN JERK AND SAFETY LINE RETAINING MEANS FOR TONGS Filed Sept. 19, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

6455752 4. Aux/050v March 3, 1959 c, LUNDEEN 2,875,657

JERK AND SAFETY LINE RETAINING MEANS FOR TONGS Filed Sept. 19, 1957 5 SheetsSheet 3 United States Patent JERK AND SAFETY LINE RETAINING MEANS FOR TONGS Chester A. Lundeen, Los Angeles, Calif assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application September 19, 1957, Serial No. 685,033

21 Claims. (Cl. 81-53) The present invention relates to a pipe tong device such as employed in making up and breaking out the threaded joints of a string of drill pipe or the like in the oil and gas well fields, and, more particularly, to improved means for retaining jerk and safety lines at the free end of the tong lever.

. Tongs of the type with which the present invention is concerned, comprise a pipe-gripping jaw assembly at one end of an elongated lever arm, this lever arm having at its free end appropriate means for securing thereto a jerk line, back-up line, safety line, or the like. Heretofore, the securing means for these lines have been such that when the tong is alternately used for make-up and break-out operations, certain of the lines must wrap around the end portion of the tong lever or must otherwise become twisted and subjected to severe strains and stresses.

The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide retaining means for jerk and anchor lines for a tong, whereby the tong is permitted to be swung through its normal range of movement, whether the tong is, to be employed as a make-up or break-out tong, while enabling the safety line or safety lines, as the case may he, to be connected to an anchor post of a drilling rig without causing the line to be partially Wrapped 0r stressed about the tong lever.

In accordance with the preceding objective, the linesecuring means hereof comprises a safety line retaining member which is rotatably mounted adjacent to the free end of the tong lever so that as the tong lever is caused to swing to opposite sides of a point where the tong lever is aligned with the anchor post aforesaid, the safety line retaining means will be rotatively moved relative to the tong lever, thus precluding partial wrapping of the safety line or lines about the lever.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for retaining such a rotatable safety line retaining element on the end of the tong lever, such means preferably comprising means for retaining a jerk line on the tong lever, and said jerk line retaining means being readily remQVably mounted upon the tong lever so as to facilitate disconnection of the jerk line therefrom during use of the tong in break-out operations, where drill pipe, or the like, is being pulled from a well."

Still another object is to provide a tong lever with safety and jerk line retaining means, wherein the safety line retaining means is free for rotation on the tong lever andthe jerk line retaining means is removably secured to the free end of the tong lever, and wherein means are provided for enabling quick detachment of a jerk line from the retaining means without necessitat- 2,875,657 Patented Mar. 3, 1959 from the tong lever and means for releasably securing the locking element in place.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described or will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the novel features thereof will be definedin the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a pipe tong with the novel jerk and safety line retaining means hereof applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation of the safety and jerk line retaining means of Fig. 1, with certain of the elements broken away and shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section as taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, but with certain of the parts shown in elevation;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view as taken at the free end of the tong lever;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in top plan showing a modified jerk line securing means;

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of the line retaining means of Fig. 5; and i Fig. 7 is a view in vertical section as taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6 with certain of the parts shown in elevation.

Like reference characters in the several figures of the drawings and in the following detailed description designate corresponding parts.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, a well-known type of pipe tong is shown, said tong comprising a head 1 having a plurality of cooperative pipe-engaging jaws adapted to be closed about a pipe so as to grip the same in order to effect rotation of the pipe responsive to rotative movement of the tong head 1. Projecting from the tong head 1 is an operating lever 2, preferably having a handle 3 thereon at its midpoint and having one form of the improved line retaining means hereof operatively connected to the lever 2 at its free end, said line retaining means including jerk line retaining means generally designated 4, and safety line retaining means generally designated 5.

In order that certain advantages which are derived from the invention may be better understood, the use of tongs of the type shown in Fig. 1 will now be generally described.

In making up a string of drill pipe during the drilling of a well, such as an oil or gas well, consecutive stands of pipe are threadedly connected to the drill string extending down into the well as the drilling progresses. A pair of tongs as shown in Fig. 1 are employed for tightening up the threaded joint between the drill string and the successive new stands of drill pipe. One such tong is engaged with the drill string to prevent clockwise rotation thereof, While the other tong is engaged with the new stand of drill pipe after an initial threaded connection has been perfected, so as to rotate the new stand of drill pipe in a clockwise direction, thus tighteningup the joint. The tong engaged with the drill string serves a back-up function therefor, while the other tong engaged with the new string of drill pipe serves a make-up function, responsive to a pull at the free end of the tong lever 2, which is imparted thereto through a line 6 referred to as a jerk line, this jerk line being operated by a cathead.

In order to prevent the tong lever from swinging beyond a predetermined point, and thus constituting a menace to the drilling crew, one or more safety lines are also conventionally secured adjacent the free end of the tong lever 2. In the illustrative embodiment, two such safety lines are shown at 7. These safety lines 7 are ordinarily connected to an anchor post of the driling rig and have only enough slack therein as to permit swinging of the make-up tong over an are on the order of approximately 60 to 90, whereupon further swinging of the make-up tong is prevented. However, the anchor post for the safety lines is ordinarily located for functional reasons approximately at the midpoint of such arcuate movement of the make-up tong, so that as the tong passes over this midpoint, the safety line or safety lines will move from one side of the tong lever to the other. Accordingly, if the safety line or lines are fixed ly connected to the tong lever in the conventional manner, the safety line or lines will necessarily partially wrap around the tong lever at one side or the other of the afore mentioned midpoint in the swing of the tong. This creates an undesirable stress in the safety lines which are conventionally made of wire rope or cable, and ultimately results in weakening or failure thereof. Because of the dangers attending failure of such a safety line, it is a requirement in some areas that two such lines be employed as a safety factor so that in the event of breakage of one safety line, the other will prevent swinging of the tong in a sweep past the drawworks in the area ordinarily occupied by the crew members.

The same general problems exist. where the tongs such as that shown in Fig. 1 are employed as a break-out tong during removal of the string of drill pipe from the well for effecting counter-clockwise rotation of the uppermost stand of the drill string by virtue of connection of the jerk line with a drawworks-driven cathead.

With particular reference to Figs. 1 through 4, it will be noted that, in accordance with the present invention, the free end of the tong lever 2 is provided with a cylindrical inner end section 8, a reduced intermediate cylindrical end section 9, and a terminal end portion 10 in the form of a T-head on the intermediate cylindrical section 9. The safety lines 7 previously referred to are looped about the inner cylindrical end section 8 and are confined between a pairof axially spaced hub portions 11 of a safety line retainer element generally designated 12, these hub portions 11 being rotatably disposed upon the cylindrical section 8 of the tong and being interconnected by a pair of diametrically opposed, radially arched, bridge portions 13,13. The bridge portions 13 serve to prevent the safety lines 7 from riding over either of the hub portions 11 so that the lines 7 are effectively retained within the confines of these hub portions. Since the retaining element 12 is free for rotation about the cylindrical section 8, however, the safety lines 7 are also free to swing about the cylindrical section 8 without wrapping therearound as the tong lever 2 swings to opposite sides of a point where the tong lever is aligned with the point of anchorage of the safety lines to a post of the drilling rig as aforementioned.

Means are provided for releasably restraining the retaining element 12 against axial separation from the cylindrical supporting section 8 and disposed adjacent to a radial shoulder 2'. Preferably, such means comprises a jerk line retaining element 14. The jerk line retaining element 14 has at one side a supporting hub engaged with the cylindrical supporting section 8 at the end of the tong lever 2, the hub 15 being engaged with safety line retaining member 13 to maintain the member 13 in an operative position. At itsother end, the element 14 is provided with a circular end wall 15 having a transversely extended elongated slot 16 generally conforming in shape to the cross member of the T-head 10 previously referred to, the thickness of the slot 16 being such that it approximates the diameter of the stem of the T-head 10. Accordingly, the retainer element 14 may be installed upon the end of the tong lever 2 by passing the inner end of the element 14 over the T-head 10 and onto the cylindrical supporting section 8 with the slot 16 aligned with the T-head 10 so that the crossmember of the T-head passes through the slot 16.

Means are provided for retaining the element 14 in the just-described position on the lever end, such means preferably including a generally U-shaped member 18 having a pair of spaced arms 19 interconnected by an end wall 20 and so spaced that the element 18 will span the T-head 10, the arms 19 projecting into the free space defined between the ends of the elongated slot 16 and the stem of the T-head 10, as is best seen in Fig. 3. This arrangement precludes rotative movement of the retainer element 14 as long as the member 18 is in this position.

A screw or other appropriate fastening means 21 is employed for retaining the member 18 in place. In the illustrative embodiment, the end of the lever 2 is provided with a threaded axial bore for receiving the screw 21. Preferably the screw 21 is of such length that it may be backed out of the threaded bore a sufiicient distance to enable removal of the arms 19 of member 18 from the slot 16 without complete removal of the screw 21. Accordingly, upon such removal of the arms 19, the retainer element 14 may be rotated approximately so that the slot 16 is again in alignment with the cross member of the T-head 10 and may, therefore, be removed from the end of the lever 2.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the lever end construction, as well as that of the safety line retaining means 13, is substantially the same as that previously described, and, therefore, need not be described in detail in connection with the modified form of the invention as shown in these figures of the drawings.

The jerk line retaining means 14, however, is provided with a latch pin 23 adapted to releasably retain the jerk line retaining element 14 in position as shown in Figs.- 5, 6 and 7 with the abutments 17 disposed for engagement with the crossmember of the T-head 10. In this modified construction, no element corresponding to that designated 18 in Figs. 1 through 4 is required, in that the latch pin 23 is adapted to be removably retained in position between a pair of opposed lugs 24, 24 which are carried by the crossmember of the T-head 10 and project axially therefrom in opposed spaced relation. In order to shiftably support the latch pin 23, the jerk line retaining element 14 is provided with a pair of outstanding opposed cars 25 between which one end of the latch pin 23 is. disposed with a pin 26 extending through the ears 25 and through an elongated slot 27 in the latch pin 23, whereby the latch pin is adapted for axial shifting movement, as well as for pivotal movement about the pin 26. Preferably, the pin 23 is axially bored at its pivotally supported end so as to provide a chamber 28 in which is disposed a coiled compression spring 29, this spring hearing at one end on the inner extremity of the bore 28, and hearing at its other end upon the pin 26 so as to normally bias the latch pin 23 in a latching direction; that is, to the left as viewed in Fig. 7.

In diametrically opposed relation to the latch pin supporting cars 25, the jerk line retainer element is provided with an axially projecting marginal lug 30 having an opening or socket 31 therein adapted to receive the other end-of the latch pin 23. Accordingly, when it is desired to remove the jerk line retainer element 14, end-wise thrust on the. free end of the latch. pin 23. will effect axial movement of the pin 23 out of, the. opening or socket 31 so that the latch pin 23 is. free. for pivotal move ment on the. pin 26 out of engagement with the. lugs, 24 on the, T-head 10. This will release the. retainer element 14 for rotative movement to a position where. the slot 16 therein is aligned with the. crossmember of the T-head 10, thus enabling removal of the retainer element 141' It will now be apparent that in the respective modified forms of the instant, invention as herein disclosed, the element 18 of the form shown in Figs. 1 through 4 and the latch pin 23 serve the same function, at least in respect to their being employed to prevent rotation of the jerk line retainer element 14 to a position where such element might be displaced from an operative position where it retains the rotatable safety line retainer element 13 against axial movement on the end of the lever.

It should be understood, moreover, that the two illustrative embodiments may be further modified and altered without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a tong adapted for use in making-up and breaking-out pipe joints, and including a pipe-gripping head, a tong lever projecting from said head and means at the free end of the lever for retaining a line thereon, that improvement wherein said line retaining means includes a member rotatably mounted on the lever, whereby the line is free to extend from one side or the other of said lever without wrapping about said lever, and means securing said member on said lever.

2. A tong as defined in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises means for retaining a second line on said free end of the lever, and means releasably locking said second line retaining means on the lever end.

3. A tong as defined in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises means for retaining a second line on said free end of the lever, and means releasably locking said second line retaining means on the lever end, said locking means and said second line retaining means including co-engaged parts preventing rotation of the second line retaining means.

4. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising, a head having jaw means for engaging a pipe, an arm projecting from said head, said arm having a cylindrical end portion, a line retaining element rotatably disposed on said cylindrical portion and having means for retaining a line on said cylindrical portion, and means securing said retaining element on said cylindrical portion.

5. A pipe tong as defined in claim 4, wherein said line retaining element comprises means forming a hub rotatably disposed on said cylindrical arm portion and a portion on said hub-defining means overlying said cylindrical arm portion for preventing displacement of a line from said retaining element.

6. A pipe tong as defined in claim 4, wherein said reraining element comprises a pair of axially spaced hub members rotatably disposed on said cylindrical arm portion, and a member bridging said hub members in spaced relation to said cylindrical arm portion to prevent displacement of a line from the cylindrical arm portion.

7. A pipe tong as defined in claim 4, wherein said securing means comprises means for retaining a second line on said arm end, and means for releasably locking said second line retaining means on said arm end.

8. A pipe tong as defined in claim 4, wherein said securing means comprises means for retaining a second line on said arm end, means for releasably locking said second line retaining means on said arm end, while permitting displacement of said second line retaining means upon rotation of the latter, said locking means including a member on said arm end and means releasably coengaged with said member and with said second line retaining means to prevent rotation thereof.

9. A pipe tong as defined in claim 4, wherein said securing means comprises means for retaining a, second line. on said rm e d w e permitt ng disp acement: of said second retaining meansupon rotation of the latter, and means for preventing rotation thereof including a lock. element. p

10. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head, line. retainingmeans adjacent to. the freeend of the lever, said retaining means. including a member having an elongated slot therethrough, said lever having a T-head for releasably securing said retaining member on said lever when said T-head and slot are rotatively displaced; and means for releasably locking said retaining member displaced rotatively relative to said T-head.

11. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising: a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head, line retaining means adjacent the free end of said lever, said lever and said retaining means having co-engaged parts for releasably securing said retaining means on the free end of said lever, one of said parts having a T-head, the other of said parts having an elongated slot, and means for locking said parts in positions with said T-head and slot rotatively displaced.

12. A pipe tong as defined in claim ll, wherein said locking means includes a member removably disposed in said elongated slot at one side of said Ir-head.

13. A pipe tong as defined in claim 11, wherein said locking means includes a member shiftably carried by one of said parts, and means on the other part releasably co-engageable with said shiftable member.

14. A pipe tong as defined in claim 11, including second line retaining means rotatably mounted on said lever adjacent to the first-mentioned line retaining means.

15. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising: a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head, a jerk line connected to said lever adjacent its free end, means retaining said jerk line on said lever, a safety line rotatably connected to said lever between the jerk line and the head, and means retaining said safety line on said lever.

16. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising: a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head and having a free end, a safety line rotatably connected to said lever adjacent said free end, retainer means rotatably mounted on said lever for preventing displacement of said safety line; a jerk line connected to the free end of said lever, and retainer means removably secured to said lever for preventing displacement of said jerk line, said lever having a shoulder adjacent said safety line retaining means, and said jerk line retaining means having a portion disposed in opposed spaced relation to said shoulder, said safety line retainer means being interposed between said shoulder and said opposed portion.

17. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising: a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head and having a free end, said free end having a head thereon, line retaining means detachably secured to said free end by said head, said line retaining means including a member having a slot for permitting removal of the line retaining means from the head and having a portion disposed behind said head when said slot is out of alignment with said head, detachably co-engaged means on said line retaining means and said head for locking the line retaining means in a position with said portion behind said head.

18. A pipe tong of the class described, comprising: a head having pipe-gripping means, a lever projecting from said head and having a free end, said free end having a head thereon, line retaining means detachably secured to said free end by said head, said line retaining means including a member having a slot for permitting removal of the line retaining means from the head and having a portion disposed behind said head when said slot is out of alignment with said head, detachably co-engaged locking the line retaining means in aposition with said portion' behind said head, and additional line retaining means rotatably disposed on said lever at a point intermediate said head and the first-mentioned line retaining means.

19. A pipe tong as defined in claim 17, wherein said locking means includes a member removably mounted on said head and projecting into said slot between the head and said line retaining means portion.

20. A pipe tong as defined in claim 17, wherein said locking means includes a releasable latch co-engaged with said line retaining means and said head. I

'21. A pipe. tong as defined in claim 20, including means slideably and pivotally supporting said latch on said line retaining means at one side of said head, said line retaining means having latch receiving means at the opposite side of said head, and spring means normally biasing said latch into said latch receiving means.

No references cited. 

